Environmental News
In an announcement, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) reported that it is “still on track” to issue a Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed Delta Conveyance Project — the Delta Tunnel – in “late 2023.” No exact date for the release of the EIR was mentioned, but I
Environmental News
On September 12, the California State Senate approved SB 389, legislation by Senator Ben Allen (D – Santa Monica) that gives the State Water Resources Control Board the power to verify pre-1914 and riparian water rights. The bill passed by a vote of 30 ayes to 8 noes. The ayes were
Current News
SACRAMENTO, CA – Friends of the River (FOR) and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), along with a coalition of tribes and environmental organizations, on August 31 submitted a protest against the water rights application and petitions of the Sites Project Authority for the proposed Sites Reservoir. FOR and CSPA said
Current News
The first reports of dead white sturgeon, apparently resulting from a red tide algae bloom and oxygen depletion on San Francisco Bay, began to come in on August 4, when five white dead sturgeon off Point Molate were reported by naturalist Damon Tighe in a Facebook post. Fortunately, Tighe noted
Current News
Washington, D.C. — On August 8, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a decision accepting for investigation a historic civil rights complaint against the State Water Resources Control Board filed by a coalition of Tribes and environmental justice organizations. The administrative complaint, filed against the Water Board on
Current News
Sacramento — The outrageous lobbying spending by Big Oil and Big Gas to influence the Legislature, regulators and Governor’s Office in California appears to be only getting worse, according to the latest lobbying disclosures with the California Secretary of State. Lobbying disclosures from Quarter 2 of 2023 analyzed by three
Current News
CA regulators issue permits for leaky, unproductive wells that should be plugged Los Angeles, CA—The total number of oil drilling permits issued blew past 15,000 since Governor Newsom took office in 2019. Meanwhile, nearly all permits issued in the first six months of 2023 were to fix unproductive
Current News
Governor Gavin Newsom, Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon on the evening of June 26 reached an agreement on the 2023-24 state budget that does not include the 45 mile-long Delta Tunnel project in the trailer bill language. “In the face of continued global
Current News
Happy Camp, California – Responding to a petition by the Karuk Tribe and a commercial fishing group to set and enforce a minimum flow standard for the Scott River, the State Water Resources Control Board has set a public hearing for August 15, 2023 in Sacramento. The Tribe and the Pacific
Current News
On June 8, the California Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee held a 3-hour informational hearing about the proposed Infrastructure proposals gutting CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) and other environmental laws that Governor Gavin Newsom wants to include as a package of trailer bills attached to the state budget that
Environmental News
On May 25, the California Senate Budget Committee in a 3-0 vote temporarily blocked Gavin Newsom’s legislative plan to gut the landmark California Environmental Quality Act and other laws in order to fast-track the construction of the environmentally destructive Delta Tunnel, Sites Reservoir and other infrastructure projects. Democratic Senators
Current News